Improvement in refrigerator-gars



` 2 sssssss sneetr. r R. BRRWS.

Refrigerator Gars. N6.196,967. `Pawmfed-Nov.13,1877'.

2 sheetssheen 2.

R. BURROWS. Refrigerator Carr.

Patented Nov. 13, 1877.

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ROBERT BURROWS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

`l MPROVEMENT IN REFRIGEYRATORHCARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,967,

dated November 13, 1877 5 application filed March 17, 1877.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, ROBERT BURRows, of the city of Chicagofn the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator-Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

. which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. f

This invention has for its object the production of a railway-car in which perishable materials may be transported long distances at all seasons of the year without suffering injury either from heat, cold, or other atmospheric conditions 5 and it relates most particularly to the construction of so-cal1ed winter refrigeratoncars,77 for the reasons, rst, that it is a well-known fact that greater difficulty is encountered in guarding against damage by frost than by heat 5 and, second, that a car which will satisfactorily perform its office in winter may-by the simple addition of an ice-chest at each or either end of the car, with means attached to' force the air within the carto impinge against the ice in a continuous current, and circulate through the car, and, furthermore, of suitable means for creating a draft about the walls-be made correspondingly effective in summer.

The invention consists, flrst, in incasing the entire car, with the exception of the bottom, .in a wooden jacket, separated from the roof and outer wall of the car proper by horizontal timbers only, whereby continuous air-spaces intervene; second, in constructing passages through the doors and door-posts wherever these serve as an obstruction to the said airspaces between the jacket and the wall, thus permitting these air-spaces to extend uninterruptedly around the entire car 5 third, in providing these continuous air-spaces with ventilators capable of being opened when it is desirable that the air-spaces shall communicate with the exteriorair, or closed when it is not, and capable, further', of regulation or adjustment when open, whereby the current through the air-spaces may be that incidental to the openings and movement of the car only, or of much greater force and volume, as desired; fourth, in having betweenthe outer and inner shell of the entire car proper, and not Ain contact with either, an intermediate partition passing entirely through the door-posts, and limited only by the doorways, and which, in the walls and floor, is closely rabbeted into the sills and uprights; fifth, in channeling the studding, sills, door-posts, and other timbers lengthwise on both .their outer and inner sides, as hereinafter particularly described, in order that they may, without sacrifice of strength, present as small a surface as practicable to the walls, &c., with which they come in contact, and afford additional air-cells to neutralize their heat-conducting properties 5 sixth, in the manner of constructing the doors and doorposts; seventh, in the manner of constructing the roof; eighth, in forming a truss-work of iron rods or bolts and tubing in the roof and upper portion of the car, for the twofold purpose of strengthening the structure and afford- `ing convenient means for suspending meat, &c., for transportation; ninth, in the manner of constructing the ice-chest, whereby the ciurent of air from the fan is distributed to all parts of the ice-compartment; and, tenth, in certain attendant contrivances for utilizing and subsequently carrying olf the waste-water, all Vas hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my refrigerator-car, with certain portions of the jacket broken away. Fig. 2is a transverse sectional view, showing the refrigerating apparatus in elevation, with a portion of the outer casin g of the ice-chest broken away. Fig. 3 is a broken longitudinal section taken on the line a: x, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the upper portion of the interior of the car inverted, with a part of the outer casing of one of the icechests broken away. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the side wall and doors; and Figli is an enlarged detail view, showing the grooves in the purlins.

A is a wooden case or jacket, separated from the outer wall B and roof C of the car proper by purlins D. Thus air-spaces E E intervene in the sides and ends, and others, E E', in thetop. F F are the `doors of the jacket'A, and they are of greater thickness than 'the jacket and air-space E together, thus permitting air-spaces E E", of equal depth with the spaces E E, to lie within'them. e e

are lateral passages through both edges of car.

In winter it is desirable that the air-spaces E E and E E be entirely closed; but if entirely closed in hot weather, the air within them soon becomes heated by conduction through the jacket to a temperature higher thanthat of the exterior rair, when they become rather a detriment than a benefit wherefore it is essential, for summer use, that suitable openings be made in the sides ofnt'he jacket, near each end of the car, leading into the spaces E E, and others at the ends leading into the spaces E E. But in very hot weather it is not sufficient merely to have openings to the spaces E E, but, in additionv thereto, it is necessary to force the currents into and out of the same; and at all times, ofcourse, it is important to exclude sparks and cinders from the air-spaces. Y By means of the device shown in the drawings, and which I shall now brieiiy describe, I am enabled to fulfill all the above requirements. y

Gr G r are ventilators, provided with springvalves g g, whereby they may be closed at will. When opened to about sixty degrees these valves will remain fixed. If opened some- .what less than this, they reclose by the action of a spring; but if opened a little beyond that point, they continue on by the action of the spring to one hundred and eighty degrees,

where they are, of course, stopped. The valves at the sides open in a direction away from the nearest end of the car.

When it is desirable (asin very hot weather) that a very strong current shall ow through the air-spaces in the sides, the valves should be opened to si-xty degrees. The air is then, when the car is in motion, gathered in, so to speak, at the forward end, and sucked out at the other, thus creating a very powerful draft.

A wire-gauze screen within the port excludes all sparks and cinders from the air-space. When a less powerful draft is desired, the valve may be wholly opened. The openings at the ends, leading to the air-spaces in the top, are best either wholly open or wholly shut, according to the season. A

As at present advised, Ifind the apparatus well known as the Emerson Ventilator7 to answer best all the above purposes, and therefore do not deem a fuller description necessary.

Between the outer and inner casing of the walls, roof, and bottomof the car proper, I place an intermediate partition, H I-I H. This partition is rabbeted into the sills and when the uprights in the sides, ends, and bottom, andl is cleated or rabbeted to the carlings in the roof. A course of studding and purlins is placed on each side of it in the sides and ends, and purlins above and below it in the floor. Thus dead-air spaces intervene on each side of it, limited by the purlins, studding, carlings, Ste. It is, moreover, continued through or between the door-posts, terminating at the doorways, as shown in Fig. 5.

It is manifest that this additional wall must greatly enh ance the non-conducting properties of the car.

K K are longitudinal channels or grooves cut into the outer and inner sides of the sills, purlins, studding, doorposts, &c., and they may sometimes be formed in three, or even all four, sides to advantage. They are best not directly opposite one another, however, soy I prefer generally to have one more groove on one side than on the other, as shown. By means of these grooves air-cells are created, which greatly aid in preventing heat from passing in or out through the timbers, while the strength of the latter is not materially impaired.

I sometimes form grooves in the remaining' sides, also, in order to intercept heat passing through at the edges.

L L represent sheathings of deodorized water-proof paper, constituting additional nonconducting media in the walls, roof, and floor. I employ as many layers as practicable, commonly three or four in each part of the car, securing them in position to the purlins, studding, carlings, and the several walls, &c., by means of the substance known as inodorous pitch cement, and to be had in the trade. This particular kind of paper has peculiar advantages for this purpose, for it is not only one of the best non-conductors known, but it is also impervious to moisture, and,being perfectly odorless, it produces no bad effects upon the contents of the car, but, on the contrary, tends to preserve them in a pure state, while the particular kind of cement named not only serves to hold the paper securely in'position, but has a tendency to preserve the wood, and is, like the paper, odorless.

A layer of this paper may likewise be used with advantage as a lining to the jacket A7 and similarly cemented thereto.

The doors F F of the jacket, and Fl Fl of the car proper, are constructed each with an air-space, and are lined with the deodorized water-proof paper. When shut, an air-space, J, intervenes between the doors of the jacket and those of the car proper. The doors are constructed with beveled edges, which are faced with cotton annel, in order that they Amay wedge closely and be air-tight. The

edges which lit against the door-posts are not beveled; yet,'by reason of the cotton iiannels pressing into the grooves K in the said doorposts when the doors are shut, all dust, cinders, &c., arecompletely excluded. The top ofthe door -frame consists of a solid wedge-shaped woodwork, to `prevent wear in loading and pose of this truss-work has already been stated.

, placing the `fana much more general atmosdoor-cap, to which the beveled tops of the doors fit closely. v l Y The inner faces of the doors should be pro tected by sheet-iron; and I generally, also,'set an iron `plate into theV threshold, flush with the unloading.

Each door-post consists of two parts, separated from eachother by the wall H, and is formed with separate ledges or shoulders, as shown in Fig. 5, to give a suitable backing to the several walls. l 1 Y .i .I form the roof with a course ofl boards, O, above, and a course, I, below the carlings, withthe partition H between, fastened, as here inbefore stated, to the carlings vW W, so that air-spaces `intervene above and below it, and also with the several layers of paper, L L,as before stated; and I generally cut passages through the carlings above the partition H', as shown at K', Figs. 2 and 3, for the same reason that I groove-the'sills, &c.viz., to preterior of the car.

M M are lengths of common gas-pipe, reaching transversely across the interior of the car, near the top. The ends pass through the walls, and are held by nuts on 'the outside. N N are rods or bolts, hooked at theirlower ends, for sustaining the tubes attheir centers, their upper ends passing through the purlin, as shown in Fig. 2, and being held by nuts. The pur.-

O is a fan or blower, placed against the center of theV ceiling, and driven,.in the ordinary manner, by i gearing (not shown) connecting with one of the axles, for the purposeof forcing the air within the car to passg'by way of the pipe o, through the ice-chest l). By thus pheric disturbance (which has a beneficial iniiuence) is created' than by placing it at or near the end, as has heretofore been done ;l also, a much more uniform temperature is'maintained,

for, the upward current being equally distant from both ice-chests, and comparatively near each, the air has not time to acquire an appreciable rise in temperature before it is again forced over the ice.

l Even in winter, when no ice is used, this currents of air serve to keep the walls, &c., dry, and prevent the formation of frost thereon.

The ice-chestsare placed against the ceiling, near the ends of the car, and are of sufficient length to reach from side to side. They are of peculiar construction, as follows: The iceholder P is of perforated metal or wire mesh, properly strengthened and sustained. It is completely inclosed by the case Q on all sides, except that toward the end of the car, where the said'case Q terminates, as shown at r, only a little above the bottom of the ice-holder, leaving the latter open on that side.y At the side toward the fan, and at the bottom, the case Q is not in contact with the ice-holder;

but everywhere else the two are tightly sealed together. Thus an air-chamber is formed between the two at the bottom and the side named, in which the air from the fan is cooled before passing through the perforated `icethe rest, its only purpose-being to prevent the ice from falling out. The air-duct o, leading from the fan, enters the case Q either at the end of the same, as shown, or midway of its length, or at any point between, terminating just within the case. Thus the current from the fan ills every part of it, finding an outlet only through the lice-compartment P by way of the perforation's, so that itis distributed into every part of the ice-compartment, and

l being forced out at the opposite side in a chilled f state, it descends and passes along the door until it is again drawn up by the fan.` vent the conduction of heat to or from the in- Q The bottom of the case Q serves a pan to catch the drip as theV ice melts, the incomplete side r being` carried up to a height sufficientto prevent the waters running out at the uninclosed side ofthe ice-compartment. The chest i`s` charged with ice through ldoors l u in the walls ofthe car.

IAS S are salt-boxes, fixed into thecorners of the'car, one immediately below each ice-chest, 5 and also charged through the doors u. The j only outlet for the drip which collects in the bottom ofthe case Q is by way of an opening, or of several small openings, immediately above the salt-box, toward which it is bestto have the said bottom' slightlyY inclined. The drip, after l tricklingthrough the saltfentersV the pipe T, l whichis coiled back and forth across the end i of the car, penetrating the cylinderVnear the bottom of the same; Within this cylinder is a globe-valve, arranged to discharge the saltwaterfrom the'car as fast asv it collects in the pan after the coil T is full.

The Veconomy of this arrangement isperfect,

` for the-wateriny the pan orf bottom of the'case Qi servesto absorb impurities `in theair as-the latter passes over it, and carry themI out of the car; and the coil T,Ibeing intensely cold, conl denses anymci'sture' with which the air may fan may be used withv advantage, since the be laden after'leaving the icechest, since this current is then obliged' to impi'nge' against the coil. This `moisture collects in the form of frost upon the coil 5 therefore a trough or pan should be placed below to catch the drip when the frost melts, with a suitable conduit attached to permit the water to pass out of the car.

It is obvious that in consequence of this thorough system of insulation an enormous saving of ice must be effected in summer 5 also, that, owing to the perfect 'circulation of air produced by my arrangement of the fan and icechests, a comparatively small quantity of ice will suffice to keep the temperature cool and regular.

My car is simple of construction, cheap,

land unusually strong, while at the same time it is much lighter than ordinary refrigeratorcars, since I wholly dispense with fillings between the walls.

Any ordinary box-car may be readily transformed into a refrigerator-car of my construction, thus effecting a considerable saving in the cost. To do this the outside casing of the sides and ends must first be removed to permit the grooving of the timbers and the placing of the paper inl position. This done,

the casing is replaced. The sides, ends, and

` roof are then incased, just as they are, in the supplementary wooden jacket, in the manner already described, the box-car itself' constituting the car proper, hereinbefore referred to. The inside casing must be removed, vand the partition H introduced in its place and rabbeted, in the manner described. Against this is placed the additional course of studding,to which the original inside casing is then fastened. rIhe doors and door-posts, of course,

require wholly new construction, and the remaining details alsoare the same as in a new car.

`What I claim` as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1.- The air-spaces E E E E', communicating with the exterior air by means of openings at or near the ends of the car, which openings are provided with valves, by which they may be opened and closed at will, whereby the said air-spaces may be rendered either free or dead,

l ding, and rabbeted into the sills andplates, substantially as described.

, 4. The sills, door-posts, studding, and the like, grooved or channeled longitudinally, so as to form air-cells between these timbers and the surfaces with which they come in contact,

5. The grooved timbers, having those grooves which are on opposite sides of the same so placed that each groove on one side shall be opposite the ridge between two grooves on" the g other, in order that, with the smallest possible sacrifice of vstrength to the material, the heat which passes between the air-cells on one side shall be intercepted by air-cells on the other, substantially as specified.

6. The car-roof formed with the `outer casing C, inner casing I, intervening partition Hf, having dead-air spaces above and below it, layers of deodorized water-proof paper L L, and carlings W W, having through them the openings K K, substantially as described.

7. In combination with the walls and roof of a railway-car, the truss-work formed of lengths of iron tubing M M, reaching yfrom side to side, and throughthe walls, and sus tained at their centers by bolts N N, passing through the purlin in the roof, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

8. The ice-chest consisting of the perforated ice-holder P, inclosed completely by the case- Q on all sides except that nearest the end of the car, with an air-chamber intervening between the said ice-holder and case at the bottom and the side toward the fan, into-which the airpasses, finding an outlet only by way of the said ice-holder P, substantially as de scribed.

9. The combination of' the perforated iceholder P case Q, salt-box S, pipe T, and valvecylinder ,substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

l0. The door-posts provided, as shown,upon those faces that are contiguous to the doors with grooves k, into which the cushions on the edges of the doors press when the doors are shut, thus preventing air, dust, cinders, &c., from penetrating to the interior of the car, as set forth. l

` In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT BURROWS. 

